iTranslate has long been the best way to communicate with foreign speakers using a smartphone, and the company's newest app enables you to translate conversations in real time.
iTranslate Converse prompts you to hold your iPhone upside-down so you’re speaking directly into the microphone for more accurate results. After selecting a pair of languages from 38 available options, the first person taps and holds on the screen, speaks in their own language, then lifts their finger to view and listen to the results.
The results aren’t always perfect – and can occasionally be comical – but this is the closest we’ve come to translating a bilingual conversation in real time. You have to speak clearly and in short sentences, but the app is otherwise super-easy to use, with a clean, minimalist interface that doesn’t get in the way of conversations. The app also retains transcripts of your translated conversations for reference or sharing.
Naturally, there’s a price to be paid for software this intuitive and clever. Though the app is free to use, that’s only good for up to 300 translations per month — after that you’ll have to subscribe for $4.99 per month, or $39.99 annually. The good news is that if you already pay for a subscription on the iTranslate app, you aren’t double-taxed – you only have to sign in and start conversing.
Having chats with speakers of other languages just got a whole lot easier.
